Zara Larsson

“I try not to overthink songs,” Zara Larsson told Apple Music in 2019. Instead, the Swedish singer feels most on point when she’s able to “just feel it.” Larsson’s ability to convey that mix of youthful confidence and emotional intensity helped make her one of Europe’s biggest new music stars while she was still in her teens. Born in 1997 in a suburb of Stockholm, Larsson first found fame in Sweden when her performance of Céline Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” clinched her victory on a TV talent show at the age of 10. After leaving school to focus on her music full time, she released her debut album, 1, in 2014, which topped the charts throughout Scandinavia and landed her a U.S. record deal. By the time she was scoring international hits alongside rapper Tinie Tempah on “Girls Like” and guesting on David Guetta’s “This One’s for You”, she was fast developing beyond the familiar dance-pop templates and demonstrating a boldness that evoked Beyoncé and Rihanna, two of her biggest influences. (She paid tribute to another inspiration a few years later when she released a sumptuous cover of Robyn’s “With Every Heartbeat”.) “Never Forget You”, a thrilling collaboration with singer and producer MNEK that also marked Larsson’s first songwriting effort, became her first major U.S. success. Together with the album So Good, the song established the power and allure of Larsson’s sleek yet impassioned brand of EDM-powered pop.